Most troubling was the decline in the index measuring future expectations, which tumbled to 73.7 in September from 83.3 in August. Readings below 80 for future expectations historically signal a recession within a year. read more >
A recent poll of 541 of the state's chief executives revealed a mix of confidence and apprehension as they assessed the current business climate and looked ahead to future conditions. read more >
The idea that defeating high inflation would require sharply higher unemployment is based on a long-time economic model that may prove ill-suited for the post-pandemic episode. read more >
Looking for a sign of the times? Look no further than your local bank marquee. read more >
The more measured approach to rate increases the Fed is now taking reflects an awareness among the officials that the risks to the economy of raising rates too high is growing. read more >
The focus for Wall Street investors and analysts now is shifting toward what comes next. Some clues could come in the updated interest rate projections it releases each quarter and at a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell. read more >
Despite the seemingly divergent figures, the decline in the core measure points to inflation coming under control. read more >
It raises the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September. read more >
The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 2.4% annual rate last quarter. read more >
The number of job vacancies dropped to 8.8 million last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the fewest since March 2021. read more >
Much of the world's population is aging, and older people are less likely to keep working. Those trends could act as supply shocks, similar to the shortages of goods and labor that accelerated inflation during the rebound from the pandemic recession. read more >
Powell noted that the economy has been growing faster than expected and that consumers have kept spending briskly — trends that could keep inflation pressures high. read more >
Supply chains have normalized for some retailers, reducing pricing pressures. Hotel occupancy rates have come off the boil of the pandemic years; room rates have eased in response. read more >
Wall Street traders, who earlier this year had predicted that the Fed would begin cutting rates by year's end, now don't envision any rate cuts until well into 2024. read more >
While price increases have cooled over the past year — the inflation rate has dropped from 9% to 3.2% — most economists say little to none of the drop came from the law. read more >
At the meeting, the Fed decided to raise its benchmark rate for the 11th time in 17 months in its ongoing drive to curb inflation. But in a statement after the meeting, it provided little guidance about when — or whether — it might raise rates again. read more >
Inflation in the United States edged up in July after 12 straight months of declines. But excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation matched the smallest monthly rise in nearly two years. read more >
Hiring was up from 185,000 in June, a figure that the Labor Department revised down from an originally reported 209,000. Economists had expected to see 200,000 new jobs in July. read more >
The government's report also showed that the number of people who quit their jobs in June fell sharply to 3.8 million from 4.1 million, another sign the job market is slowing. read more >
The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.81% this week from 6.78% last week, which was the lowest level in a month, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 5.3%. read more >
